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What Innocent Spouse Relief Says About Wives And The Rest Of Us, Stephanie Mcmahon
What Innocent Spouse Relief Says About Wives And The Rest Of Us, Stephanie Mcmahon
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
Every time spouses sign joint returns, knowingly or not they accept joint and several liability, meaning that either spouse may be held liable for all of the tax due on the joint return. Although joint and several liability facilitates tax collection, it may conflict with a spouse’s claims to have signed the return while being lied to, abused, or manipulated. The question for Congress is how to balance these competing demands. Innocent spouse relief provides some tax relief for spouses Congress does not believe should be jointly and severally liable. The existence of this relief also offers an opportunity to …
To Have And To Hold: What Does Love (Of Money) Have To Do With Joint Tax Filing, Stephanie Mcmahon
To Have And To Hold: What Does Love (Of Money) Have To Do With Joint Tax Filing, Stephanie Mcmahon
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
Wealthy taxpayers have always attempted to reduce their federal income taxes. Before 1948, when the United States had an individual-based system, one popular method was to shift income between spouses so that more of a husband's income could be reported by and taxed to his lower-income, and thus lower-tax-bracket, wife. Congress eliminated the reward for this tax-avoidance behavior in 1948 by nationalizing income splitting via the joint return. Today, there are proposals to return to an individual-based system. Evaluating the proposal for individual filing, this Article first explores the development of the income-splitting joint return as a historical guide to …